with clarity, conviction and excitement. The chess was particularly bloodthirsty and the result could have easily gone either way. This is a great book and the best one written on this match. Yasser also wrote‘ No Regrets Fischer / Spassky 1992’, which is a must for any chess library.
8) End Game by Dominic Lawson I think we need to start adding a few books for pure chess reading pleasure.“ End Game” fits the bill. This is an illuminating prose account of Nigel Short’ s odyssey over several candidate cycles to qualify for a World Championship Match and his 1993 London World Championship Match versus Kasparov. Dominic Lawson was a good friend and advisor to Short so this is an insider’ s eyewitness account. The score was lopsided, but a closer look reveals it to be as exciting as the“ Thrilla in Manilla”. It’ s as good a read as any novel.
9) The King – Chess Pieces by Jan Hein Donner Here is another selection for reading pleasure. It is a compilation of prose articles written for Dutch newspapers and chess magazines over 25 years by the late Dutch GM Jan Hein Donner, who was at the top of top of Dutch chess for twenty years before giving way to Ree and Timman. This volume won Dutch literary awards and the English edition expanded Donner’ s reputation worldwide. The stories will have you snorting and chuckling with every cut and thrust of his journalistic pen. Along the way you’ ll learn a lot about chess. Think of Art Buchwald and Nigel Short mind melding.
The 2000’ s – Looking Past, Looking Foward
10) Russian Silhouettes by Gena Sosonko Here is another selection for reading pleasure. This is a collection of wonderful nostalgic character portraits of primarily Russian chess personalities from the Golden Era of Soviet chess. GM Sosonko has written very human and honest stories of what it is like to live as a chess player in the former Soviet Union. We experience the highs of those who were able to climb to greater chess heights and those who, for one reason or another, faded to different fates and in some cases miseries. The publication of this book was a literary high water mark for chess.
11) Chess Training for Budding Champions by Jesper Hall This instructional book blew me away. It renewed my interest in the chess learning / training process. It is also somewhat of a personal account, as each lesson touches on Hall’ s development as player, person, and coach. There are 15 chapters, each roughly 10 pages in length, which do not have to read in order. Each chapter contains an introduction to the learning topic, Hall’ s personal experiences and game( s), references to other games to further illustrate the topic, a series of exercises, a closing game, training tips, and further reading suggestions. Each chapter is a joy to read. This is the first chess book I have read where I experienced the“ flow” feeling similar to a“ runners high”. This is one of my favorite all-time books and definitely my favorite instructional book.
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Photo provided courtesy of Steve Ferrero
Players in the Open section on day two enjoying themselves during this year’ s New Jersey Open from September 1 st – 3 rd in Somerset, New Jersey.
12) San Luis 2005 by Alik Gershon and Igor Nor I just bought this tournament book and it is worth every penny! It’ s sumptuously produced; over 400 glossy pages, tons of color photos, in-depth game annotations, player profiles, round-by-round summaries. Plus, the book is supple and lies completely flat when opened. This may be the best tournament book since Zurich 1953. The authors are not David Bronstein but they’ ve given us a Herculean effort. The San Luis lineup without Kasparov and Kramnik doesn’ t match up to the superstar lineup of Zurich 1953, but it’ s still a formidable group, even if the tournament was sadly only a double round robin event. Regardless, this is already one of my favorite tournament books.
I almost forgot one will need companions on the island so I decided to bring along some“ friends”. Bearing in mind the need for a social network and decent tournament lineup I chose the following party animals to come along: Yasser Seirawan, Jan Timman, Jonathan Rowson, Almira Schripchenko, Jennifer Shahade, Antonaeta Stefanova, and Judit Polgar( OK, she doesn’ t party but she is the best player of the lot)!
Photo provided courtesy of Steve Ferrero
IM Mikhail Zlotnikov( right) pondering his move on day two in this year’ s New Jersey Open.